Technology – Page 13 – IndyScan.com

Apple Reminders – GTD App Worth Using

As a big fan of the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology I make a lot of lists. Lists are a simple way to get things out of your head and off your mind so you can focus on what needs to be done now.

In the past I’ve always used the Tasks feature in Outlook and synced it with whatever smart phone I was using at the time. Now that I’m 99% Apple (I still run windows on the Mac using Parallels for certain Windows only apps I need for work) I’ve switched to using the Reminders application available on iOS and OSX.

Reminders is a simple to-do application that wirelessly syncs across all of my devices using iCloud. Those of you with an iPhone have probably used the app in one form or another & are saying to yourself “yeah, so what?”…

So… Have you used Location based reminders yet? This single feature got me to dump Outlook tasks and immediately switch to the Reminders App.

Most people have a few different types of reminders (tasks) they’re keeping track of. Some with due dates and some without. Once the due date/time hits you get an alert and you either do it, snooze it or ignore it. How would you like to get an alert any time you arrive or depart a particular location even if the reminder has a date/time alert or not?

This is the one feature that made the switch worth it. Here an example. The trash at my house is picked up every Thursday morning. I like to have a alert on Wednesday evening to remind me to set the bins out. In the past I would set a weekly reminder for 7pm every Wednesday night. That’s great if I’m home but if I’m not I’d probably just dismiss the alert & forget about it by the time I got home. Or I’d get home, park in the garage, go inside, & then remember. Having to back the car out to get the bins out…

With location based reminders I get an alert as soon as I pull into my driveway every Wednesday! It’s not based on a time, it’s based on a day & location (the date is optional). This works well for a lot of things. If I need to talk to someone as soon as I get to the office I’ll get a reminder when I pull into the parking lot, no matter what day of the week or time it is.

While this is a great feature there are a few quirks that keep the application from being perfect. Options for recurring tasks are somewhat limited and it’s not integrated with Outlook (Mac or Windows version). There’s no snooze option on iOS but there is on OSX…

That being said, it’s a lightweight application that syncs almost instantly between my Mac & iPad. Entering multiple items is a easy as pressing Enter to separate each reminder. You can create unlimited contexts (categories) to group your reminders. Finally, you can share your reminders and lists with other iOS users. This is great for team tasks or sharing within a household.

All in all this is great app for those of us that like to make GTD lists and need a place to keep them organized and accessible among several devices.

If you’re interested in learning how to use Siri to create reminders check out the video below from TeachMeiOS.com

Laptops Fit in Office Envelopes in 1994 Too!

With a whopping 75MHz processor this laptop was state of the art back in 1994. Your smart phone has a lot more power than this thing did. We’ve come a long way in just under 20 years. What will the next 20 years bring us?

Forecast.io is One of the Best Weather App to Date

Always on the lookout for cool applications, Forecast.io was recommended to me by a coworker. It’s one of the first HTML5 web applications I’ve used that acts like an installed application.

To access the application all you need to do is point your internet browser to http://forecast.io and follow the on-screen instructions (if any). In the case of the iPhone you create a link on your home screen and access that app from there going forward.

Visually the application is clean and gives a glimpse of what the new iOS7 will look like when it’s released later this year.

From a functionality standpoint it covers all the basics and has a few little twists that I’ve already found useful (like the small chart that shows the timing and intensity of rain in the next hour). It’s worth checking out of you want something different from what you’re currently using.

First it Was Cell Phones, Now This?

U.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement [Link to NY Times article]

Cell phones are tracked, Internet usage is tracked, Cars are tracked, now we find out Snail Mail is tracked… These must be some unbelievably big databases and data centers to store this kind of information.

Guess it’s time for me to pull the shades, break out the frequency counter, and start looking for the bugs around the house… I have nothing to hide & this still scares the hell out of me! Anyone have a cabin in the woods they’re looking to sell?

Happy “Independence” Day everyone!

First 10 Days With The Nest Learning Thermostat

After waking up to a cold house 3 mornings in a row and finding my programmable thermostat reset to its factory defaults I set out on a quest for a replacement. I’d seen the Nest Learning Thermostat before but always shied away because of the $250+ cost.

After reading a review of the new 2nd generation unit, and customer comments saying the 1st Generation was better (and now cheaper), I decided to take another look at the Nest.

Designed by former Apple employees the Nest is a remarkable device with a feature list almost too amazing to believe. At first glance a web enabled thermostat sounds like overkill but when you realize what that feature allows the device to do it become more interesting…

By connecting to the Internet the Nest can be controlled remotely via computer or smartphone. It also receives software updates and monitors the weather outside your home. This last feature allows the unit to learn the thermodynamic properties of the structure and estimate the amount of time it will take to reach a requested temperature.

Let’s say I program the thermostat to let the house be a little warmer when I’m at work. If it’s been programmed to have the house at 72-degrees at 5pm knowing the outside temperature and how log it’s going to take the AC to get to the requested temperature allows it to only run the AC as long as it needs to. So on a really hot day it might start the pre-cooling process at 3pm where a cooler day it might not start until 4:30pm.

HVAC cycles are recorded and you can view the heating/cooling cycles for previous days. There’s even monthly energy reports available. Since I’ve only had the unit for 10 days it’s still learning. Future blog posts will further detail the long-term usage of the Nest.

There’s a lot of chatter online about the Gen 1 vs. the Gen 2 versions of the Nest. The Gen 2 has a slightly different look to it and it’s designed to work with a greater variety of HAVC units. People who have “upgraded” to the new unit have a lot of complaints about how it does not seem to work as well as the Gen 1. The good thing is they both run the same software and have the same feature set. After verifying my HVAC system would work with the Gen 1 Nest I placed my order and saved about $75 in the process.

One feature that Immediately got my attention was the heat/cool mode. You pick the upper temperature you’re comfortable with as well as the lower temp. The Nest will heat or cool as necessary to stay within that range (no more manually changing modes). I have mine set for 66-74 degrees and that 8-degree range is enough to prevent my furnace or AC from running most of the day when the temps are in the 60’s-80’s.

The Auto-Fam mode allows me to cycle the fan at just about any schedule I want. Currently I run the fan for 15-minutes an hour to keep the inside air from becoming stale. I used to leave the fan running constantly to help even the temperature between floors.

A proximity sensor on the unit detects movement and after a few weeks it’s supposed to learn when you’re home or not. This allows you to set a broader temperature range. If your work/weekend schedule is pretty consistent this may be a good option for you. My schedule is not and I’m not sure how well this is going to work long-term. 10 days in and it’s still trying to “learn” my schedule. The display of the unit turns on when you approach it which is pretty cool.

Call me lazy but being able to adjust the Heat/AC from anywhere is pretty cool. Especially when you wake up one morning to a house a little cooler than you want. Pickup the smart phone, tap tap tap, the heat comes on and you’re toasty in minutes.

There’s a lot more to talk about but for now I’m going to leave you with this promo video that gives a good synopses of the Nest. Feel free to leave any questions in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.

This Might Just Work!

I spend a lot of time in downtown Indianapolis and seeing people walking down the street staring into a smartphone is a very common site.

I’ve witnessed people walk into other pedestrians, step into traffic, and even the occasional parking meter out of nowhere collision.

I think this might be the solution for unemployment and rising medical costs due to stupidity.

I give you the Seeing Eye Person!

Very Cool Visual Effect!

Working From Home Is Like Saying No to Drugs

I could not agree more…

“Frankly, I don’t really care if I am less productive working from home than in the office. Productivity is only one variable in a complex equation. Another very important variable is personal happiness. I want to be productive, but I also want to be happy, and sometimes those goals conflict and I have to sacrifice one for the other. Working from home is where I am potentially sacrificing productivity for happiness. Now, to be clear, I’m not conceding that working from home makes me less productive, but instead I’m saying that I really don’t care. It’s a moot point in the argument.” [MORE]

No Saturday Mail delivery? Fine by me!

Earlier this week the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced it would stop Saturday mail delivery in August and that’s just fine by me. I say cut it down to 2-3 days a week.

I go to my mailbox a few times a week and it’s full of advertising inserts, credit card offers and stuff I never even look at. I pay my bills online and I rarely, if ever, send any kind of written correspondence, and I’m sure I’m not alone. As a matter of fact, I hate all of the waste generated by direct mail marketing. I didn’t ask for this stuff but I have to take care of getting rid of it…

The USPS is supposed to be able to pay for itself with the fees it charges to use its service but after being “forced” to take a HUGE loan to pre-fund its union pension program it’s become under water to a tune of $15-billion. Yet another example of how unions are not good for business anymore (that’s another post all together).

So far I have not read a lot of complaints about the USPS decision. I think it’s just a sign of the times and probably not the first reduction of service we’ll see in our lifetime.